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Phototherapy is certainly having a wave of attention. There are now available glowing gadgets targeting issues like skin conditions and wrinkles as well as muscle pain and oral inflammation, the newest innovation is a dental hygiene device equipped with tiny red LEDs, promoted by the creators as “a significant discovery for domestic dental hygiene.” Internationally, the industry reached $1 billion in 2024 and is forecast to expand to $1.8 billion by 2035. You can even go and sit in an infrared sauna, where instead of hot coals (real or electric) heating the air, your body is warmed directly by infrared light. Based on supporter testimonials, it’s like bathing in one of those LED-lit beauty masks, stimulating skin elasticity, soothing sore muscles, relieving inflammation and long-term ailments as well as supporting brain health.

Research and Reservations

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” observes a Durham University professor, who has researched light therapy for two decades. Of course, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight helps us make vitamin D, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Sunlight regulates our circadian rhythms, too, triggering the release of neurochemicals and hormones while we are awake, and preparing the body for rest as darkness falls. Sunlight-imitating lamps are a common remedy for people with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) to boost low mood in winter. So there’s no doubt we need light energy to function well.

Types of Light Therapy

Although mood lamps generally utilize blue-spectrum frequencies, most other light therapy devices deploy red or infrared light. In serious clinical research, including research on infrared’s impact on neural cells, determining the precise frequency is essential. Photons represent electromagnetic waves, spanning from low-energy radio waves to high-energy gamma radiation. Light-based treatment uses wavelengths around the middle of this spectrum, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and then infrared (which we can see with night-vision goggles).

Ultraviolet treatment has been employed by skin specialists for decades to manage persistent skin disorders including eczema and psoriasis. It works on the immune system within cells, “and dampens down inflammation,” explains Dr Bernard Ho. “Considerable data validates phototherapy.” UVA reaches deeper skin layers compared to UVB, whereas the LEDs we see on consumer light-therapy devices (typically emitting red, infrared or blue wavelengths) “generally affect surface layers.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

UVB radiation effects, such as burning or tanning, are recognized but medical equipment uses controlled narrow-band delivery – meaning smaller wavelengths – which minimises the risks. “Treatment is monitored by medical staff, so the dosage is monitored,” notes the specialist. And crucially, the lightbulbs are calibrated by medical technicians, “to guarantee appropriate wavelength emission – different from beauty salons, where it’s a bit unregulated, and emission spectra aren’t confirmed.”

Commercial Products and Research Limitations

Colored light diodes, he notes, “aren’t really used in the medical sense, though they might benefit some issues.” Red wavelength therapy, proponents claim, enhance blood flow, oxygen uptake and dermal rejuvenation, and stimulate collagen production – an important goal for anti-aging. “The evidence is there,” states the dermatologist. “Although it’s not strong.” Regardless, given the plethora of available tools, “we’re uncertain whether commercial devices replicate research conditions. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, proper positioning requirements, whether or not that will increase the risk versus the benefit. Numerous concerns persist.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

Initial blue-light devices addressed acne bacteria, bacteria linked to pimples. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – despite the fact that, says Ho, “it’s commonly used in cosmetic clinics.” Certain patients incorporate it into their regimen, he mentions, but if they’re buying a device for home use, “we advise cautious experimentation and safety verification. If it’s not medically certified, the regulation is a bit grey.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

Meanwhile, in advanced research areas, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, revealing various pathways for light-enhanced cell function. “Virtually all experiments with specific wavelengths showed beneficial and safeguarding effects,” he states. Multiple claimed advantages have created skepticism toward light treatment – that results appear unrealistic. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

The researcher primarily focuses on pharmaceutical solutions for brain disorders, however two decades past, a GP who was developing an antiviral light treatment for cold sores sought his expertise as a biologist. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he recalls. “I was pretty sceptical. This particular frequency was around 1070 nanometers, that many assumed was biologically inert.”

The advantage it possessed, however, was its efficient water penetration, enabling deeper tissue penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria produce ATP for cell function, creating power for cellular operations. “Every cell in your body has mitochondria, including the brain,” says Chazot, who prioritized neurological investigations. “It has been shown that in humans this light therapy increases blood flow into the brain, which is always very good.”

With specific frequency application, energy organelles generate minimal reactive oxygen compounds. At controlled levels these compounds, says Chazot, “triggers guardian proteins that maintain organelle health, protect cellular integrity and manage defective proteins.”

All of these mechanisms appear promising for treating a brain disease: oxidative protection, inflammation reduction, and pro-autophagy – autophagy representing cellular waste disposal.

Present Investigation Status and Expert Assessments

The last time Chazot checked the literature on using the 1070 wavelength on human dementia patients, he says, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, including his own initial clinical trials in the US